I dont believe in God will i burn in the firey depths of hell for all eternity?

[ChristineES]

If I believed in some fiery furnace, I wouldn't know who was going there or not. But since I don't, then I still don't know where people spend eternity. When talking of hell, they were usually speaking of the grave, which is probably why they always show it underground in cartoons (with the lava as the fire).

 

[ellenjanuary]

I get cold feet often, it could be a bonus.

Only if you want.

 

[Oneatatime]

Nah. If there's a god he wouldn't be that sadistic, petty and infantile.

I see no reason why not

 

[Storm]

Nah. If there's a god he wouldn't be that sadistic, petty and infantile.

I see no reason why not

I agree with you both. A God might well be a right *******. That said, any such God is not worthy of recognition, much less worship.

 

[Oneatatime]

I agree with you both. A God might well be a right *******. That said, any such God is not worthy of recognition, much less worship.

The God of the old testement and many other Gods were ******** yet they had many followers.

 

[Storm]

The God of the old testement and many other Gods were ******** yet they had many followers.

So? I set my own standards, thank you.

 

[xkatz]

No you will not burn in Hell. Hell for one does not even exist, and there is little chance of their being an "afterlife". I don't believe in a God that would be obesessed with humanity/mankind, for we are merely a tiny blue dot in the seemingly infinite cosmos.

 

[Starsoul]

I don't know why anyone would be concerned with where a God they don't believe in is going to send them.

good point, but they do wonder often and that makes you wonder why. if you don't believe there is any hell, you cant tell other people, that there is no hell, because even you haven't seen it : P the only reason why people don't want to believe in hell, is probably they're too scared themselves of being in it and deny vehemently that it doesn't exist, just to make themselves feel better about themselves. : )

 

[xkatz]

the only reason why people don't want to believe in hell, is probably they're too scared themselves of being in it and deny vehemently that it doesn't exist, just to make themselves feel better about themselves. : )

I vehemently disagree. The reason I don't believe in the "afterlife" is because there is virtually no evidence such a thing exist. Furthermore, why would God, such an enormously powerful being, care so much about what one group of beings is doing on a tiny blue dot, in a universe containing billions upon billions of stars and galaxies? Why would one's morality even matter to such an entity to begin with?

 

[Storm]

I don't know why anyone would be concerned with where a God they don't believe in is going to send them.

It's usually more about wondering what YOU think than fear.

We're trying to get into your heads.

good point, but they do wonder often and that makes you wonder why. if you don't believe there is any hell, you cant tell other people, that there is no hell, because even you haven't seen it : P the only reason why people don't want to believe in hell, is probably they're too scared themselves of being in it and deny vehemently that it doesn't exist, just to make themselves feel better about themselves. : )

Not at all. I don't want to believe in Hell because I love God. Eternal damnation reduces my beloved to the ultimate abusive parent.

 

[Levite]

They don't? hmm so if there is no hell, what is there? heaven i suppose from your post, so everybody goes to heaven regardless of what they believed in, then whats so special about being a jew? i mean if heaven was for everybody, why would God be so kind to jews and call them 'the chosen ones" chosen for what?

This doesn't make sense, you mean to say all rapists, murderers, criminal people will be together with the nice people in heaven? Oh my that sounds like this world exactly! why go to the next world which isn't going to be perfect?

There is no consensus in Judaism about the afterlife. Not all Jews believe in Olam ha-Ba ("The World To Come," more or less our version of Heaven); some say in all cases that the soul loses individuality and personal awareness after life, more or less returning to the Source. Some believe that evildoers simply are denied immortality of the soul, and their energy returns to the Source, whereas the righteous are given immortality of the soul.

Still others believe in a kind of Purgatory, called Gehinnom, where transgressors and evildoers can "work off their sin" for a finite amount of time, before being ready to enter Olam ha-Ba. And some follow the Kabbalistic teachings about gilgulei neshamot (reincarnation, transmigration of souls), holding that we live many lifetimes in order to have the chance to work off sins and accrue more merits before our final reward.

And even for those of us who do believe in Olam ha-Ba, while there is consensus that it will be a much better place than this plane of existence in the sense of being more open to Divine revelation, and more sustaining to us in other senses, there is no consensus on it being "perfect," in that most Jewish authorities believe that word can only be applied to God, and nothing else.

Also, your comment reflects a common misconception about "chosenness." The word in Hebrew does not necessarily reflect the same exclusivity that the English word does. We presume that God and the People Israel chose one another to be partners in the covenant of Torah. That relationship is special, unique to the Jewish People. But we presume other peoples have relationships with God, perhaps other covenants that are unique in their own ways. Our unique relationship is in Torah, and the responsibility of the Jews to follow the 613 commandments-- a requirement God did not give to other peoples, who are not obligated to shoulder those burdens, which we accepted. Whatever God has asked or demanded of other peoples is between them and God.

We don't hold that Judaism is universalist. One doesn't have to be Jewish to be righteous, or to be loved by God, or to be rewarded in the afterlife if one believes in such things. Jews have an obligation to be Jewish, because we are bound by the covenant. Non-Jews have no such obligation, and we believe that they are obligated only to pursue justice and lovingkindness in their societies, relating to God in whatever their ways might be.

 

[Oneatatime]

So? I set my own standards, thank you.

You're just worshiping yourself. You give your God whatever characteristics you want, typically those consistant with your particular worldview. Sometimes people find themselves in a society where God is clearly defined and its characteristics insufficiently similar to their own leading them to make their own God or suffer in silence.

 

[Storm]

You're just worshiping yourself.

No, not really.

You give your God whatever characteristics you want, typically those consistant with your particular worldview.

Nope. At least no more than anyone else.

Sometimes people find themselves in a society where God is clearly defined and its characteristics insufficiently similar to their own leading them to make their own God or suffer in silence.

Do you have a point? What does this little rant have to do with the subject at hand?

 

[michel]

I get cold feet often, it could be a bonus.

I can't see God punishing you for not believing in him -especially with hundreds of people giving you the impression that you must be an idiot for believing in something/one for whom there is no proof. If you live your life with decency, and stick to a good moral attitude, he would (in my mind) like you far more than a persistant sinning Christian.

 

[Atheist94]

The reason i care is to remind me of the reason God does not exist, or the reason people believe. I do not think i am going to any of these places anyone has stated, Things are carried out for rewards, nothing is carried out for nothing- this is irrefutable.

 

[Riverwolf]

The reason i care is to remind me of the reason God does not exist, or the reason people believe. I do not think i am going to any of these places anyone has stated, Things are carried out for rewards, nothing is carried out for nothing- this is irrefutable.

I disagree. Even if a goal is desired, it doesn't HAVE to be personal. There are plenty of instances where people have given with no thought for reward. After all, what personal gain is there when people give to charities or homeless people?

 

[Starsoul]

There is no consensus in Judaism about the afterlife. Not all Jews believe in Olam ha-Ba ("The World To Come," more or less our version of Heaven); some say in all cases that the soul loses individuality and personal awareness after life, more or less returning to the........

And even for those of us who do believe in Olam ha-Ba, while there is consensus that it will be a much better place than this plane of existence in the sense of being more open to Divine revelation, and more sustaining to us in other senses, there is no consensus on it being "perfect," in that most Jewish authorities believe that word can only be applied to God, and nothing else.

Also, your comment reflects a common misconception about "chosenness." The word in Hebrew does not necessarily reflect the same exclusivity that the English word does. We presume that God and the People Israel chose one another to be partners in the covenant of Torah. That relationship is special, unique to the Jewish People. But we presume other peoples have relationships with God, perhaps other covenants that are unique in their own ways. Our unique relationship is in Torah, and the responsibility of the Jews to follow the 613 commandments-- a requirement God did not give to other peoples, who are not obligated to shoulder those burdens, which we accepted. Whatever God has asked or demanded of other peoples is between them and God.

We don't hold that Judaism is universalist. One doesn't have to be Jewish to be righteous, or to be loved by God, or to be rewarded in the afterlife if one believes in such things. Jews have an obligation to be Jewish, because we are bound by the covenant. Non-Jews have no such obligation, and we believe that they are obligated only to pursue justice and lovingkindness in their societies, relating to God in whatever their ways might be.

Thanks for the detailed explanation Levite. Insightful indeed. But i always thought judaism was a very black and white religion, i mean I owe it to my lack of knowledge of course, but I never knew jews were comfortable with this 'no consensus' stance on this very important belief. For, the believing Jews that one comes across, they are so staunch in their beliefs, so hard core, you expect them so be certain about everything. Anyhow.

The reason i care is to remind me of the reason God does not exist, or the reason people believe. I do not think i am going to any of these places anyone has stated, Things are carried out for rewards, nothing is carried out for nothing- this is irrefutable.

yeah yeah and yeah, but where is the love and inspiration in all of that dry logic? what a passion-less boring life where there is nothing to look forward to ; eat,drink, work, die, what is the point of all this if it means nothing to anyone, anymore than buying a dream house or a dream car or be with your dream girl? what next?

 

[Evolutionary Model]

Depends on the religion, I guess.

 

[Levite]

Thanks for the detailed explanation Levite. Insightful indeed. But i always thought judaism was a very black and white religion, i mean I owe it to my lack of knowledge of course, but I never knew jews were comfortable with this 'no consensus' stance on this very important belief. For, the believing Jews that one comes across, they are so staunch in their beliefs, so hard core, you expect them so be certain about everything. Anyhow.

Actually, Judaism is really designed and built around the concept of multiple interpretations and making room for differing viewpoints, within certain defined bounds (though I tend to find those bounds seem comparatively looser than the bounds of other Western religions, insofar as I understand them).

By your last sentence, about "the believing Jews," I presume (perhaps wrongly?) that you mean Haredim (ultra-Orthodox Jews)-- the sort who tend to wear black and white, often with black hats, usually have long peyot (sidelocks). If I am correct, then yes, they are hard-core. They are Judaism's version of radical fundamentalists. And despite the fact that they are so vocal, and so memorable in appearance, and their tendency to appear great in numbers from living in tight communities, they actually make up a relatively small percentage of the Jewish People. And their views (which are for the most part, an accumulation of increasingly strict interpretations over the last couple of hundred years, with a dramatic, sharp spike in radical strictness and rigidity over the past forty or fifty years) are indeed less tolerant and less prone to embracing multiple viewpoints than are the views of the majority of the Jews, both currently and historically.

But even in the Haredi world, there are matters upon which there is no consensus, even matters of comparative theological import, and that is considered perfectly normal and acceptable.

 

[ellenjanuary]

I don't know why anyone would be concerned with where a God they don't believe in is going to send them.

Because it is flippin' nasty? Because there is no greater insult? Because if people like me spread some righteous indignation now, "people" like Yahweh won't have to come by later and regulate?